Characterization of HD 206893 B from Near- to Thermal-infrared

Abstract

HD 206893 B is a brown-dwarf companion orbiting inside the debris disk of its host star. We detect the brown dwarf in the Ms band using the Keck/NIRC2 instrument and vortex coronagraph. We measure its magnitude to be M_s 12.97_(-0.11)^(0.10). It is at an angular separation of 0farcs22 ± 0farcs03, and a position angle of 39.6° ± 5.4° east of north. Using this Ms-band measurement and the system age, we use three evolutionary models to estimate the mass to be 12–78 M_(Jup). We analyze the atmospheric properties from 1–5 μm using a grid of simulated atmospheric models. We find that a sedimentation flux f_(sed) value ∼0.2 provides the best fit to the data, suggesting high vertically extended clouds. This may be indicative of high-altitude grains or a circumplanetary disk. Our model radii and luminosities for the companion find the best fits are ages of <100 Myr and masses <20 M_(Jup), consistent with our mass estimate from the evolutionary models using the Ms-band data alone. We detect orbital motion of the brown dwarf around the host star in comparison to the discovery image and derive orbital parameters. Finally we analyze how the companion brown dwarf interacts with the debris disk by estimating the location of the chaotic zone around the brown dwarf using values derived from this study's estimated mass and orbital constraints. We find that the collisions within the debris belt are likely driven by secular perturbations from the brown dwarf, rather than self-stirring.